Bogota, Dec 11: A record half-a-million Colombians this year have requested a US visa and 85 percent of those requests have been approved, the US consulate in Bogota said.

Around 94 percent of the visas granted this year were for tourism and business, along with some 7,000 student visas, the US diplomatic mission said.

"This phenomenon is not a coincidence. The good period through which the country is passing from the economic and social point of view has made Colombian citizens some of the main visitors from the region to the US," said US Consul General in Colombia Roberto Powers